Whose side is AEP on, anyway?

American Electric Power's mission statement claims to possess company values that include "doing the right thing, every time" and touts its customer focus. It also claims business strategies that include meeting "the energy needs of our customers in ways that improve their quality of life."

Really?

Last week, The Supreme Court of Ohio gave AEP a pass on refunding $368 million in previously invalidated charges tacked onto customer bills for two years. The ruling allows a company with $3.8 billion - that's BILLION - in overall revenue in 2013 to keep $368 million of your money, because Ohio law doesn't have a provision to retroactively give utility refunds.

Justices Maureen O'Connor, Terrence O'Donnell, Judith Ann Lanzinger, Sharon L. Kennedy and Judith L. French voted with AEP on this case. As an aside, French and Kennedy are up for re-election later this year - something Ohio voters should consider. Justices Paul E. Pfeifer and William M. O'Neill dissented. Pfeifer rightly said AEP should not be allowed "to fatten itself on the backs of Ohio residents by collecting unjustified charges."

AEP continues to justify the fees it collected by saying it gave customers security during a move to electricity competition, and the state's highest court backed that idea with the application of a case decided more than 50 years ago. We think $368 million in security costs is incredibly excessive, even more so when the company passes that cost to Ohioans who already pay higher average residential electric rates than most states.

If that weren't enough, AEP now says it must collect more money from you.

The company has asked the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to allow it to charge its customers for the $57.5 million in restoration costs it incurred during the June 2012 derecho. If it is not allowed to do that, AEP says, it will reconsider how it responds to future storms.

Reading between the lines, here's what that means to you: If AEP can't get you to cover its costs for restoring electrical service you already pay for after a big storm, AEP may - or may not - give you its best effort to restore that service.

Not exactly comforting, is it?

AEP has talked a good game on stewardship and integrity for years, but we'll leave it up to customers to decide whether the business practices of the company match the slogans it uses.

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Whose side is AEP on, anyway?

American Electric Power's mission statement claims to possess company values that include 'doing the right thing, every time' and touts its customer focus. It also claims business strategies that